meeker



(No Model.)

E. GMBEKER.

WRITING TABLET.

Patented Apr.` 6,1886.

N PETERSA Phuwuuwgrzphnr. washiugxm D. c.

lln'rre STATES ,AEN-I FFME@ EDlYIN MEEKER, OF NEIVARK, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNGR TO SAMUEL I. KNIGHT, OF NEYVYORK, N. Y.

WR ITlNG-TABLET.

PECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 339,570I dated April 6,1886.

Application filed November 31, 18.85. Serial No. 153,1'176. (No modell.To @ZZ 207mm it may concern:

Beit known that I, EDWIN C. MEEKER, a citizen of the lUnited States,residing at Newark, county of lssemand State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in biting-Tablets, full ydescribed and represented in the following specification and theaccompanying,` drawings, forming a part of the same.

This invention relates to what are known to the trade as writingtablets77 o1' padsthat is te say, a tablet or pad composed of a numberof sheets of writing-paper which are secured together at one or more oftheir edges in such manner that the sheets can be successive] y detachedas they are written upon until the whole tabletis used. This manner ofputting` up writing-paper has of late become very popular, and there isnow a great demand fer all classes of writing-paper put up in this form.The cheaper grades ot' these tablets usually consist simply ofastiil'backing, of pasteboard, upon which the sheets of paper composing thetablet are placed, and to which they are secured by means of abinding-strip, which is gunnned to the backing and along two of theedges of the pile of sheets, so as to hold them to the back and to eachother. In putting up the finer grades et' paper, however, in the formtablets it is desirable that the sheets should he secured along only oneof their edges, and it is also desirable that, in addition to the stiffbacking, the tablet should be provided with a cover, which, when thetablet is not in use, will protect the paper from becoming soiled orwrinkled. It is also desirable that such tablets should be provided witha permanent blotter, by which the freshly-written sheet can be blottedbefore it is detached lfrom the tablet. It is also important. in acommercial sense, that these tablets, and particularly those which arecomposed of the iinest grades of paper, and

which are more especially designed for ladies use, should be made topresent an attractive and ornamental appearance, corresponding to thequality of the paper composing the tablet. As, however, any considerableornamentation upon the cover oi the tablet makes a correspending`increase in its cost, it has heretofore been found impracticable,in 1nost cases,to provide these tablets with any but the plainest and mostinexpensive covers, as the eXtra cost of an ornamental cover made thetablet so expensive as to materially interfere with its sale.

I have found, however, that by making` the covers of these tablets insuch forni and or' such kcharacter that when the paper of the tablet isgreatly to the' appearance of the tablet, but

can be readily detached when the tablet is eX- hausted, and will thenform a highly-ornamental a-rticle for the decoration-of a room.

As a full understanding of the invention can be best imparted byadescription and illustration of the tablet, such description will now begiven, reference being had to the accompaf nlying` drawings, whichillustrate the tablet, Figure l of said drawings being a plan View ofthe tablet, and Fig. 2 partial longitudinal section thereof.

Referring to said figures, it is to be understood that c is a sheet ofordinary pasteboard, forming,` the backing of the tablet, and b the pileof'sheets of paper of which the tablet is composed. The sheets of paperb are secured to the backing a and to each other by means of abinding-strip, c, which is composed of cloth or other flexible material.This bindingstrip is secured to the end of the backing a, and is gummedacross the end of the pile of sheets Z), as shown in Fig. 2, all in theusual manner. The binding-strip c is extended beyond the upper edge ofthe pile of sheets Z) and forms a hinge for the cover D.

The cover Dis composed of a sheet of pasteboard or card-board, d, theouter or upper face of which is covered by a piece, f, of satin or othersimilar fabric, which is pasted to the sheet of pasteboard d. The sheetd, after the fabric j' is pasted to it, is embossed, so as to IOOproduce any desired design-such, for example, as that shown in thedrawingswhich embossing, owing to the nature of thefabricf, produces avery striking and ornamental effect. In addition to this somesuitabledesign or picture may be printed or painted upon the fabric f, as alsoshown. Afterbeing embossed, the cover is provided with a lining, e,consisting of a sheet of paper, which is pasted to the inside ol' thecover and acts to conceal the embossing upon that side, and betweenwhich and the cover the end of the binding-strip c is secured, so as toform a hinge for the cover. rIhe lining c not only serves to conceal theembossing upon the back of the cover while thelatter is attached to thetablet, but performs the more important function of forming a backingfor the embossed card or picture which the cover forms when it isdetached from the tablet.

In some cases the cover D may be provided with a knot or bow of ribbon,which will serve to make the cover still more ornamental, and thisribbon or the satin f of the cover may be providedwith such words as AMerry Christmas77 or Easter Greeting, or any similar Words, thus makingthe cover an appropriate Christmas or Easter card. If desired, the covermay also be provided around its edge with a suitable fringe.

Between the cover D and the sheets b there is interposed a permanentblotter, g, which is attached to the cover bya flexible connection, soas to be turned down onto thc freshly-written sheet upon the top ofthetablet.

By constructing the cover in this manner, not only is the appearance ofthe tablet greatly improved, which renders it much more salable, but thecover' itself is made to form a very beautiful article, which, after thepaper of the tablet is exhausted, can be removed by cutting thebinding-strip c along the edge of thevcover, and either mounted upon aneasel or hung upon the wall as an ornament. It will thus be seen thatthe cover l) is made to serve two purposes-it protects the paper of thetablet until the latter is exhausted, and then serves as an article ofdecoration. p

' By thus designing and constructing the cover D, so that it will servea useful purpose after it has served the purpose of a cover for thetablet, it becomes practicable to make it of a comparatively elaborateand costly nature,

thus making the tablet itself correspondingly attractive and salable.

W'hat I claim isrlhe herein-described writing Itablet or pad, consistingof the backing a, sheets of paper b, binding-strip c, and the hingedcover D, composed of the sheet d, covered with satin or similar fabricand embossed with a suitable design, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in thc presence of twosubscribing witnesscs.

E. C. MEEKER.

Vitnesses:

BENJ.- F. CRANE, Lnwrs HEADLEY.

